Nail package improvements for interconnecting the trailing nail of one nail package with the leading nail of another nail package

ABSTRACT

A device for use in connecting the trailing nail of a first group of nails interconnected in series in parallel relation by flexible elongated wires or the like secured across the shanks thereof with the leading nail of a second group of nails similarly interconnected comprising a one-piece element made of thin resilient material shaped to provide spaced trailing and leading nail shank engaging portions integrally interconnected by a central connecting portion, each of the nail shank engaging portions are of generally C-shaped configuration and operable to resiliently grip a nail shank around a substantial portion of the periphery thereof in response to a relative transverse movement of a nail from a disengaged position outwardly thereof to an engaged position therein, each of the nail shank engaging portions define an opening of a size less than the diameter of the nail shank when the latter is in a disengaged or engaged position with respect thereto and is sufficiently resilient to flex outwardly in response to the movement of a nail from the disengaged position to the engaged position to expand the opening to the shank diameter size and permit passage of the nail thereby, the connecting portion has a longitudinal extent such that when the aforesaid trailing and leading nails are disposed in engaged positions within the trailing and leading nail shank engaging portions respectively the trailing and leading nails are spaced apart a distance equal to their spacing with respect to the adjacent nail of their respective groups and is constructed to transmit transverse feeding movements of the trailing nail to the leading nail and to provide for the fracture and separation of the trailing nail shank engaging portion from the leading nail shank engaging portion in response to a rapid relative longitudinal movement of the trailing nail with respect to the leading nail.

United States Patent [191 Maynard Oct. 30, 1973 211 App]. No.: 217,461

[52] US. Cl. 24/81 CC, 206/56 DF [51] Int. Cl A44b 21/00, B6Sd 83/02[58] Field of Search 24/81 CC, 73 RH, 24/73 CC; 206/65 B, 56 DF [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,157,917 10/1915 Allen 24/73l-II-I 2,954,602 10/1960 Derby 206/56 AB UX 3,083,369 4/1963Peterson.... 206/56 DF 3,442,374 5/1969 Hillier 206/56 DF 3,486,53112/1969 Nalodka 24/81 CC FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,132,73211/1968 Great Britain 24/81 CC Primary Examiner-Donald A. GriffinAttorney-John W. Malley et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A device for use in connecting the trailing nail of afirst group of nails interconnected in series in parallel relation byflexible elongated wires or the like secured across the shanks thereofwith the leading nail of a second group of nails similarlyinterconnected comprising a one-piece element made of thin resilientmaterial shaped to provide spaced trailing and leading nail shankengaging portions integrally interconnected by a central connectingportion, each of the nail shank engaging portions are of generallyC-shaped configuration and operable to resiliently grip a nail shankaround a substantial portion of the periphery thereof in response to arelative transverse movement of a nail from a disengaged positionoutwardly thereof to an engaged position therein, each of the nail shankengaging portions define an opening of a size less than the diameter ofthe nail shank when the latter is in a disengaged or engaged positionwith respect thereto and is sufficiently resilient to flex outwardly inresponse to the movement of a nail from the disengaged position to theengaged position to expand the opening to the shank diameter size andpermit passage of the nail thereby, the connecting portion has alongitudinal extent such that when the aforesaid trailing and leadingnails are disposed in engaged positions within the trailing and leadingnail shank engaging portions respectively the trailing and leading nailsare spaced apart a distance equal to their spacing with respect to theadjacent nail of their respective groups and is constructed to transmittransverse feeding movements of the trailing nail to the leading nailand to provide for the fracture and separation of the trailing nailshank engaging portion from the leading nail shank engaging portion inresponse to a rapid relative longitudinal movement of the trailing nailwith respect to the leading nail.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures I NAIL PACKAGE IMPROVEMENTS FORINTERCONNECTING THE TRAILING NAIL OF ONE NAIL PACKAGE WITH THE LEADINGNAIL F ANOTHER NAIL PACKAGE This invention relates to nail packages foruse in power operated nail driving devices and more particularly toimprovements in nail packages of the type including a multiplicity ofnails interconnected in series in parallel relation by elongatedflexible means rendering such nail packages capable of beinginterconnected to facilitate use thereof during operation.

The present invention is particularly useful in conjunction with highcapacity pneumatically activated nail driving devices of the productionmachine type such as disclosed in my co-pending U.S. Pat. applicationSer. No. 167,414 filed July 29, 1971. This application discloses aproduction type nail driving device for successively driving nails in asubstantially large packaged condition as, for example, nails of theorder of 3,000 or the like interconnected by a pair of flexible wireswelded in parallel relation across the shanks of the nails with thenails in substantial parallel relation in accordance with the teachingsof commonly-assigned Peterson U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,369. In accordancewith the disclosure of my aforesaid co-pending application, the packageof nails may be separately supported in packaged coiled relation with aleading portion of the package extending from the coil in row formationinto cooperating relation with the nail feeding mechanism of the naildriving device. Once the leading portion of the nail package has beenpositioned in operative relation with the device, the latter may beoperated to effect successive driving movements of successive nails inthe package. Notwithstanding the relatively large number of nails whichcan be handled in one package, nevertheless, due to the high operatingcapacity of the device the frequency with which the device must beloaded with a new nail package during operation causes considerableinconvenience. To a considerable extent, the inconvenience caused byreloading is occasioned by the necessity to open up the nail feedingmechanism of the device, to place the leading portion of the new nailpackage in proper operative position with respect to the opened nailfeeding mechanism and then to close the mechanism with the leadingportion of the nail package properly disposed therein Accordingly, it isan object of the present invention to provide improvements inconventional nail packages rendering them operable in such a way as tomaterially eliminate the inconveniences heretofore experienced inloading individual nail packages in the nail driving device.

In accordance with the principles of the present in? vention, thisobject is obtained by providing connecting elements which can be easilyengaged between the trailing nail ofa nail package being fed through thenail driving device and the leading nail ofa new nail package. Theconnecting elements serve to interconnect the trailing and leading nailsof the two nail packages in a relationship the same as the relationshipof any two nails in either package, thus insuring that the leadingportion of the new nail package can be moved into operative positionwithin the nail driving device by the connector elements, which transmitsuch movement from the nail package being driven. In this way, thenecessity to open and close the nail feeding mechanism of the naildriving device is eliminated and it is no longer necessary to manuallyposition the leading portion of the new nail package in operativeposition with the nail driving device, since the latter is automaticallymoved therein by continued operation of the device and the motiontransmitting function of the connecting elements.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of connectingelements of the type described which are operable to transmit transversefeeding movements of a trailing nail of one nail package to the leadingnail of a new nail package and which will fracture in response to arelative longitudinal movement of the trailing nail engaged thereby withrespect to the leading nail engaged thereby so as to permit separationand driving movement in the usual way.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of aconnector element of the type described which is simple in construction,effective in operation and economical to manufacture.

These and other objects of the present invention will become moreapparent during the course of the following detailed description andappended claims.

The invention may best be understood with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein illustrative embodiments are shown.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating the trailingend portion of a nail package being fed through a pneumatically actuatednail driving device with the improvements embodying the principles ofthe present invention operatively engaged therewith and with the leadingportion of a new, similar nail package;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of a preferred embodiment ofa connector element embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a modified form of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a connector element of modifiedform embodying the principles of the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings, theimprovements embodying the principles of the present invention areillustrated therein in operative assembled relation, the assemblyincluding a first nail package, the trailing end portion of which isindicated at 10 in FIG. I, a second nail package the leading portion ofwhich is indicated at 12 in FIG. 1, and a pair of connector elements ormembers each generally indicated at 14 in FIG. 1. The particular nailpackages 10 and 12 illustrated are constructed in accordance with theteachings of the aforesaid Peterson U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,369. The packageincludes a multiplicity of nails each having a shank 16, a round head 18integrally formed on one end thereof and a point 20 formed on the other.The nails of each package are interconnected in series in generallyparallel relation with respect to each other by flexible elongated meansextending across and secured to the shanks 16. In the preferredembodiment shown which is constructed in accordance with the aforesaidPeterson patent, the elongated means is in the form of a pair offlexible wires 22 extending in parallel relation across the shanks l6along one side thereof and secured thereto as by welding. As indicatedin the specification of the aforesaid Peterson patent, the nails thusflexibly secured together in series are disposed within a coiledconfiguration for packaging and use in conjunction with a nail drivingdevice such as disclosed in my aforesaid co-pending application. Asindicated in the specification of the copending application, a packageor 12 may include as many as 3,000 nails in a single package in coilformation. In use, the coiled package is mounted for rotation on aspindle and the leading portion of the package is pulled outwardly anddisposed in operative position within the nail feeding mechanism of thenail driving device. As the device is operated, the leading portion ofthe nail package with the nails thereof in row formation, areincrementally fed in the direction of the row formation so thatsuccessive leading nails can be stripped from the remaining nails of thepackage and driven into the workpiece. As the leading portion of thepackage advances through the nail feeding mechanism, the trailing coiledportion of the package mounted on the spindle is turned about the axisof the spindle so that the trailing end portion is progressively movedto the leading end portion during operation.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, when theoperation has proceeded to the point that there are but a few coils ofnails left on the spindle, these coils are removed from the spindle anda new nail package 12 is mounted thereon. The connector elements l4serve to effectively interconnect the nail packages so that uponcontinued operation of the nail driving device, the connector elementswill serve to move the new nail package 12 into operative relation withthe nail feeding mechanism of the nail driving device without thenecessity of opening and closing the same.

In the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the nailpackages are of the parallel welded wire type, the connector elements 14are adapted to engage the shank of the trailing nail of the nail package10 and the shank of the leading nail of the package 12. It will beunderstood that the principles of the present invention haveapplicability to other types of nail packages such as those embodyingflexible plastic strips adhesively secured to the nail shanks, flexibleplastic carrier strips having flexible fingers detachably receiving thenails in generally parallel relation and the like. The

present invention contemplates in its broadest aspects,

improvements in which one or more connector elements serve tointerconnect the plastic carrier strips so that the leading and trailingnails of two respective packages are in proper orientation with respectto each other, although it will be understood that the preferred nailshank engaging connector elements may be used in any of these packages.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 3, the preferred form ofconnector element 14 is illustrated therein. In general, the connectorelement 14 includes a trailing nail shank engaging portion, indicated at24, a leading nail shank engaging portion indicated at 26 and anintegral connecting portion indicated at 28. In the preferred embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3, the connector element 14 is constructed of aone-piece member preferably in the form of spring steel. It will beunderstood that other materials may be utilized, as for example moldedplastic or the like. Each nail shank engaging portion is generally ofC-shaped configuration,

as best shown in FIG. 2, and is formed with a central slot or opening 30extending inwardly from the free end into the connecting portion 28dividing the respective nail shank engaging portion into a pair ofspring fingers. The connecting portion 28 is formed with a pair ofopposed slots 32 extending inwardly from opposite edges thereof inperpendicular relation to the slots 30. The arrangement of the slots 30and 32 defines relatively narrow fracturable neck portions 34interconnecting each spring finger of the associated shank engagingportion within the connecting portion 28.

With reference to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the C- shapedconfiguration of each nail shank engaging portion is arcuate about asingle center and includes an ouwardly curved free end and an oppositeend portion which is integrally joined with the connecting portion. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the trailing nail shank engaging portion24 is reversed with respect to the leading nail shank engaging portion26 so that the nail shank receiving openings are in opposed relationwith one another with the connecting portion 28 extending diagonallytherebetween. It will be noted that the openings between the free endand opposite end of each C-shaped nail shank engaging portion is of adimension less than the diameter of the nail shank 16, the springfingers being sufficiently resilient to flex outwardly in response tothe transverse movement of a nail shank from a disengaged positionoutwardly of the opening transversely into an engaged position withinthe opening to expand the opening to the diameter size of the nail andpermit passage of the nail shank thereby. It will also be noted that theconnecting portion has a longitudinal extent such that when the trailingand leading nails are gripped in engaged positions within the trailingand leading nail shank engaging portions respectively, the trailing andleading nails are spaced apart a distance equal to their spacing withrespect to the adjacent nail of their respective groups.

The slots 30 permit the connector elements 14 to be positionedlongitudinally on the nail shanks 16 at predetermined positions thereon,namely with the flexible wires 22 extending through the slots 30. Withthis positioning, the connector elements when moved through the feedingmechanism of the nail driving device will be accommodated by the spaceswhich normally are provided for accommodating the connector wires 22.The trailing nail shank engaging portion 24 includes a section whichextends across the leading surface of the trailing nail shank and thatthe leading nail shank engaging portion 26 includes a like section whichextends across the trailing surface of the leading nail shank of thenail package 12. With this arrangement, feeding movements transmitted tothe trailing nail of the nail package 10 through the wires 22 will betransmitted to the leading nail of the nail package by the connectorelements 14 in a manner minimizing the tendency for the spring fingersto flex into an open position and release the nail shanks. When it isconsidered that a new nail package, such as the package 12, may containas many as 3,000 nails it can be appreciated that the connector elementsmust have the capability to transmit substantial feeding movementforces.

On the other hand, the connector elements, once they have performedtheir primary function of moving the new nail package into operativeposition within the nail driving device, must also be operable tofracture to permit separation and driving movement of the trailing nailof the package 10. The neck portions 34 facilitate this fracturingaction which occurs when the trailing nail of the package is movedrapidly in a longitudinal direction with respectto the leading nail ofthe package 12 during the normal operation of the nail driving device.In this regard, it will be noted that the two spring fingers of the nailshank engaging portion 24 are in gripping engagement with the shank ofthe trailing nail of the nail package 10 as this rapid longitudinalmovement takes place. Likewise, the spring fingers of the leading nailengaging portion 26 are in gripping engagement with the shank of theleading nail of the nail package 12 which is held stationary during therapid longitudinal movement of the trailing nail of the nail package 10.The result of the two gripping actions is to effect a bending andfracture-of the neck portions 34 associated with the spring fingers ofthe trailing nail shank engaging portion 24. While it is contemplatedthat the gripping action of the spring fingers after. fracture issufficient to retain them on their respective nail shanks until thelatter are actually driven into a workpiece, at which time they arestripped from the shanks, it will be understood that this desired actioncan not always be achieved in operation. Nevertheless, the size of thespring fingers is such as to prevent no real problem if stripped offwithin the drive track of the nail driving device.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 4-6, there is shown thereinanother embodiment of the present invention which illustrates certainvariables in the construction of the connector elements 14 previouslydescribed. FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates two nail packages10 and 12 of the type previously described. As before, the trailing nailof the nail package 10 and leading nail of the nail package 12 areinterconnected by a pair of connector elements of modified construction,indicated generally at 36. As before, each connector element 36 includesa trailing nail shank engaging portion 38, a leading nail shank engagingportion 40, and a connecting portion 42 formed integrally therebetween.As before, each nail shank engaging portion is of generally C-shapedconfiguration. However, as best shown in FIG. 5, the C-shapedconfiguration is oblong rather than being arcuate about a common center.The orientation of the C-shaped nail shank engaging portions isgenerally the same rather than being reversed as previously described.In this way, the openings face laterally in the same direction and theconnection portion 42 extends longitudinally between the two nail shankengaging portions along the side of the openings. Each nail shankengaging portion is provided with a central slot 44 which extendsinwardly from the free end thereof into the connecting portion so as todivide the respective nail shank engaging portions into a pair of spacedspring fingers. Also, as before, the connecting portion 42 is formedwith a pair of slots 46 extendinginwardly from opposite edges thereof inperpendicular relation with the slots 44 so as to form fracturable neckportions 48 similar to the neck portions 34 previously described.

It will be noted that the connector elements 36 provide sections whichextend across the leading surface of the trailing nail of the nailpackage 10 and the trailing surface of the leading nail of the nailpackage 12 when disposed in operative gripped engagement therewith,which, as previously described, minimizes the tendency for the springfingers to flex into an open position and release the nail shanks duringfeeding movements. The fracturing capabilities of the connector elements36 are similar to those of the connector elements 14 previouslydescribed.

With the correspondingly positioned nail shank engaging portions 38 and40, the connector elements 36 can be moved into engaged position by asingle lateral movement with respect to the nail shanks without thenecessity of any movement of the nails. This arrangement provides for asomewhat more convenient engagement than is the case with the connectorelement 14 which requires a transverse movement of the nails withrespect to each other in order to effect engagement. While it iscontemplated that a pair of connectors could be engaged with thetrailing nail of each nail package, the more practical operation wouldinvolve the supply of connector elements in bulk for movement intogripping engagement by the operator as the occasion requires.

It thus will be seen that the objects of this invention have been fullyand effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that theforegoing preferred specific embodiment has been shown and described forthe purpose of illustrating the functional and structural principles ofthis invention and is subject to change without departure from suchprinciples. Therefore, this invention includes all modificationsencompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in connecting the trailing nail of a first group ofnails interconnected in series in parallel relation by flexibleelongated means secured across the shanks thereof with the leading nailof a second group of nails similarly interconnected comprising aonepiece element made of thin resilient material shaped to providespaced trailing and leading nail shank engaging portions integrallyinterconnected by a central connecting portion, each of said nail shankengaging portions being of generally C-shaped configuration operable toresiliently grip a nail shank around a substantial portion of theperiphery thereof in response to a relative transverse movement of anail from a disengaged position outwardly thereof to an engaged positiontherein, each of said nail shank engaging portions defining an openingof a size less than the diameter of the nail shank when the latter is ina disengaged or engaged position with respect thereto and beingsufficiently resilient to flex outwardly in response to the movement ofa nail from said disengaged position to said engaged position to expandthe opening to said diameter size and permit passage of the nailthereby, said connecting portion having a longitudinal extent such thatwhen the aforesaid trailing and leading nails are disposed in engagedpositions within said trailing and leading nail shank engaging portionsrespectively the trailing and leading nails are spaced apart a distanceequal to their spacing with respect to the adjacent nail of theirrespective groups and being constructed to transmit transverse feedingmovements of the trailing nail to the leading nail and to provide forthe fracture and separation of the trailing nail shank engaging portionfrom the leading nail shank engaging portion in response to a rapidrelation longitudinal movement of the trailing nail with respect to theleading nail.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said trailing nail shankengaging portion includes a section extending around the leading surfaceof the trailing nail and said leading nail shank engaging portionincludes a section extending around the trailing surface of the leadingnail when said trailing and leading nails are disposed in said engagedpositions.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said trailing nail shankengaging portion is oriented in reverse relation with respect to theleading nail shank portion so that engaging portion openings thereof aredisposed in opposed relation with said connecting portion extendingdiagonally therebetween.

4. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein said trailing nail shankengaging portion is oriented in the same relation with respect to theleading nail shank engaging portion so that the openings thereof extendlaterally in the same direction and said connecting portion extendslongitudinally therebetween.

5. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said nail shankengaging portions is in the form of a pair of spring fingers spacedapart by a central slot extending from the free end thereof inwardlyinto said connecting portion for receiving the flexible elongated meansin the form of a wire welded to the respective nail shanks when disposedin said engaged position.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein said connecting portionincludes a pair of aligned spaced slots extending inwardly from opposededges thereof in perpendicular relation to said first-mentioned slots,the connecting portion providing a fracturable narrow neck for eachspring finger between the slots associated therewith.

1. A device for use in connecting the trailing nail of a first group ofnails interconnected in series in parallel relation by flexibleelongated means secured across the shanks thereof with the leading nailof a second group of nails similarly interconnected comprising aone-piece element made of thin resilient material shaped to providespaced trailing and leading nail shank engaging portions integrallyinterconnected by a central connecting portion, each of said nail shankengaging portions being of generally C-shaped configuration operable toresiliently grip a nail shank around a substantial portion of theperiphery thereof in response to a relative transverse movement of anail from a disengaged position outwardly thereof to an engaged positiontherein, each of said nail shank engaging portions defining an openingof a size less than the diameter of the nail shank when the latter is ina disengaged or engaged position with respect thereto and beingsufficiently resilient to flex outwardly in response to the movement ofa nail from said disengaged position to said engaged position to expandthe opening to said diameter size and permit passage of the nailthereby, said connecting portion having a longitudinal extent such thatwhen the aforesaid trailing and leading nails are disposed in engagedpositions within said trailing and leading nail shank engaging portionsrespectively the trailing and leading nails are spaced apart a distanceequal to their spacing with respect to the adjacent nail of theirrespective groups and being constructed to transmit transverse feedingmovements of the trailing nail to the leading nail and to provide forthe fracture and separation of the trailing nail shank engaging portionfrom the leading nail shank engaging portion in response to a rapidrelative longitudinal movement of the trailing nail with respect to theleading nail.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said trailingnail shank engaging portion includes a section extending around theleading surface of the trailing nail and said leading nail shankengaging portion includes a section extending around the trailingsurface of the leading nail when said trailing and leading nails aredisposed in said engaged positions.
 3. A device as defined in claim 2wherein said trailing nail shank engaging portion is oriented in reverserelation with respect to the leading nail shank engaging portion so thatengaging portion openings thereof are disposed in opposed relation withsaid cOnnecting portion extending diagonally therebetween.
 4. A deviceas defined in claim 2 wherein said trailing nail shank engaging portionis oriented in the same relation with respect to the leading nail shankengaging portion so that the openings thereof extend laterally in thesame direction and said connecting portion extends longitudinallytherebetween.
 5. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein each of saidnail shank engaging portions is in the form of a pair of spring fingersspaced apart by a central slot extending from the free end thereofinwardly into said connecting portion for receiving the flexibleelongated means in the form of a wire welded to the respective nailshanks when disposed in said engaged position.
 6. A device as defined inclaim 5 wherein said connecting portion includes a pair of alignedspaced slots extending inwardly from opposed edges thereof inperpendicular relation to said first-mentioned slots, the connectingportion providing a fracturable narrow neck for each spring fingerbetween the slots associated therewith.